1

Pair (and Triplet) Production Effect:

• In both Pair and Triplet production, a positron (anti-electron) and an electron (or
“negatron”) are produced spontaneously as a photon interacts with a strong electric
field from either a nucleus (pair production) or an electron (triplet production).

Annihilation, if “in-flight” then

γs T +final ≠ 0
Teinitial
+
e

hν positron
Pair Production θ+
nucleus
θ−
Teinitial
−
final
Electron: often, Te − =0
{ triplet Production
if electron instead
of nucleus }

• These interactions are dominant at high incident photon energy: hν >> m0 c 2

• Nobel Prize in physics, 1948, went to P. Blackett’s bubble! It works by condensation

in a super-heated liquid (cloud chamber), or boiling in a super-cooled liquid (bubble
chamber). The particles create local trail of bubbles like airplanes make
condensate tracks.

• This effect also invoked to explain Hawking radiation.

Lecture 7 MP 501 Kissick 2012

 2

• After some math that you should do, the threshold energy for these effects to
take place is:

 2m0c 2 
(hν ) min = 2m0c 1 +
2

2 
 2 Mc 

Where, if:

M ≡ M nucleus >> m0 then it' s pair production

M = m0 then it' s triplet production

• Assuming that the recoil of the nucleus is small, the available kinetic energy is
simply

Tavail = hν − (hν ) min

pair

Tavail = hν − 2m0 c 2 for pair and triplet production (2m0 c 2 = 1.022MeV )

• Focusing now on Pair Production:

• The mean kinetic energy given to each of the two particles is half of the available
kinetic energy [actually, the positron gets a bit more energy because of the push
from the positively charged nucleus].

Tavail
Te ± =
2

Lecture 7 MP 501 Kissick 2012

 3

• The mean angle given to each of the two particles is with respect to the incident
photon direction is

m0 c 2
θ± = with units: [θ ± ] = radians
Te ±

• The 1/T dependence is similar to bremsstrahlung ! {and that’s not all as we will see}.
Higher energy particles get more forward directed !

• Cross-section for Pair production:

• Bethe and Heitler (1934) derived the atomic differential cross-section as follows:
{per atom}
d aκ pair z2
=σ0 P
dTe ± Tavail

And all of the complications are in P.

-- The quantity, σ 0 , is defined as follows:

r02
σ0 ≡ = 4.80 x10 − 28 cm 2 / atom
137
• The quantity, r0, is the classical electron radius, and also represents the range of
the strong nuclear force:
e2
r0 = 2
= 2.56 x10 −15 m
m0 c

• Note that 1/137 = α, the fine structure constant. One of the most important
numbers in the universe !!

Lecture 7 MP 501 Kissick 2012

 4

e2 1
• A bit about the fine structure constant, α ≡ = : {Gaussian units}
hc 137

• It was introduced by A. Sommerfeld in 1916.

• It measures the coupling strength between a photon and an electron.

r0 h
• The Compton wavelength of an electron is λe = = .
α m0 c 2
r0
• The Bohr orbit of the hydrogen atom is .
α2
• It also is related to the relative strength of the electromagnetic force:

Force: Relative strength: Notes:

Strong Nuclear 1 Nucleus/nucleons

Electromagnetic 1/137 Dominant at our scales

Weak Nuclear 10-5 Explains β-decay*

Gravity 10-39 The real oddball here !

*At > 100 GeV, this is inseparable from the electromagnetic force and becomes the
‘electroweak’ force. They can all hopefully combine this way, but gravity is the big
challenge here eventually for a unified field theory.

• So, 1/137 is the relative strength of the electromagnetic force.

• And THEREFORE,

r02
σ0 ≡ expresses the area that can couple
137
electromagnetic forces.

Lecture 7 MP 501 Kissick 2012

 5

Back to the cross-section for pair production !

• P is a function of photon energy and almost independent of atomic number, z, as

shown in the following figure from Attix, page 149:

• Notice the symmetry in the above figure: Energy not given to the positron is given
to the electron and the other way around …

• The cross-section is again obtained by integrating the differential cross-section:

Tavail 1
P
a κ pair = σ 0 z 2
∫ d (Te ± ) = σ 0 z 2
∫ Pd (T e±
/ Tavail )
T
T ± = 0 avail 0
e

1 1 1

With: ∫ d (T
0
e±
/ Tavail ) = 1 then, P = ∫ Pd (Te± / Tavail )
0
∫ d (T
0
e±
/ Tavail )

Lecture 7 MP 501 Kissick 2012

 6

• Using the above to define an average P = P :

a κ pair = σ 0 z 2 P

• And this P also has little z dependence.

• If the interaction is too far from the nucleus, then many orbital electrons will
screen the nuclear electric field.

• When screening can be neglected, there is no z dependence and just a weak

logarithmic dependence on energy:

28 2hν 218
P≈ ln −
9 m0 c 2 27
(2m0 c 2 << hν << 137m0 c 2 z −1/ 3 )

• When screening is maximized, at high energy, there is a weak logarithmic z

dependence and basically no energy dependence:

28 2
P≈ ln(183z −1/ 3 ) −
9 27
(hν >> 137 m0 c z )
2 −1 / 3

(If z=6, this is hν>>35MeV)

• At energies around m0 c 2 , no analytical form is possible.

• We can use the approximation that a κ pair is proportional to z2 for all photon
energies.

• There is a great similarity between pair production and bremsstrahlung !!

Lecture 7 MP 501 Kissick 2012

 7

• Aside: the similarity between pair production and bremsstrahlung:

• There is a concept about anti-particles, proposed by P. Dirac in 1930, that the

negative energy root from E 2 = ( pc) 2 + ( m0 c 2 ) 2 is an anti-particle. This came out of
the Schoedinger Equation with some relativity.

• A photon with enough energy, and an electric field to exchange momentum with, can
liberate something out of the infinite sea of negative energy (the “Dirac sea,”
completely filled and occupied states = vacuum!), and the hole left behind is the
anti-matter:
energy γ
negatron

0 2m0c2

positron
“Dirac sea”

• Another mathematical oddity is that one can perhaps view the positron as moving
backwards in time. This is used in Feynman Diagrams where the similarity between
bremsstrahlung and pair production is profoundly obvious!

Pair production Bremsstrahlung

time time

electron electron
positron

γ γ
γ
nucleus
γ nucleus

position position

Lecture 7 MP 501 Kissick 2012

 8

• The cross-sections (cm2/atom) are VERY similar:

r02 2  28 2 
Pair production at very high energies: a κ pair = z  ln(183 z −1/ 3 ) − 
137  9 27 

r02 2  36 4
Bremsstrahlung (radiative losses): σγ = z  ln(183 z −1/ 3 ) − 
137  9 18 

7
Therefore, a κ pair ≈ σ γ
9

• The Pair Production Mass Attenuation coefficient is as follows then:

κ N
=a κ A 
with units of  a κ ⋅
N A  cm 2 (atoms / mole) cm 2
= ⋅ =
ρ A  A  atom g / mole g

{no z dependence here.}

• Recall for Compton:

σ N z N
=e σ A ⇒a σ A if a σ = z⋅ e σ
ρ A A

Lecture 7 MP 501 Kissick 2012

 9

• Focusing now on Triplet Production:

• The electric field is now from an electron, a very light particle which becomes
indistinguishable from the created particle !

Annihilation, if “in-flight” then

γs T +final ≠ 0
Teinitial
+
e

hν positron
Triplet Production θ+
Teinitial
− θ−
And another!
Teinitial Electron: often, Te−
final
=0
−

Impossible to tell which is which !!!

• The mean kinetic energy given to each of the three particles is a third of the
available kinetic energy [actually, the positron still gets a bit more energy because
of the push from the positively charged nucleus that most available electrons are
finding themselves near].

Tavail
Te −+ − =
3

 2m c 2 
• Of course, since M = m0 in (hν ) min = 2m0c 2 1 + 0 2  , the threshold is now 4m0 c 2 !
 2Mc 
It is all due to momentum conservation.

Aside: Because of atomic excitations, the threshold is actually 2m0 c 2 , but very very
small…

Lecture 7 MP 501 Kissick 2012

 10

• The Triplet production Cross-section

• It would be the same but we actually use a factor, C, to relate the triplet cross-
section to the pair production cross-section because of electron exchange effects:

κ pair zP
a κ triplet = = σ0
a

Cz C
Where,
C = 1.6 ± 0.2 (5MeV < hν < 20 MeV )
C = 1.1 ± 0.1 (20 MeV < hν < 100 MeV )
-- And C has a negligible dependence on z.

• Combined Triplet and pair Attenuation Coefficients:

a κ = a κ pair + a κ triplet = σ 0 zP ( z + 1 / C )

• Combined Triplet and pair Mass Attenuation Coefficients:

κ  NA 
= σ zP ( z + 1 / C )
ρ  A  0

• Combined Triplet and pair Mass Energy Transfer Cross-sections:

The fraction of photon energy transferred to charged particles is Tavail / hν ,

therefore,

κ tr κ Tavail κ  hν − 2m0c 2 
= ⋅ =  
ρ ρ hν ρ hν 

• Not a typo! The 2m0c2 is for BOTH ! (Triplet has an extra momentum issue, but
still just creating 2 particles.)

• Right near the threshold, the amount of energy transferred is small, but this cross-
section approaches the attenuation cross-section at large energies !

Lecture 7 MP 501 Kissick 2012

 11

• Positron ‘annihilation in flight’:

• When the positron meets an electron, two gamma photons are released in opposite
directions in the center-of-mass (or ‘center-of-momentum’) frame. Therefore, an
isotropic angular distribution in this frame. Both photons have the same circular
polarization: both RHC or both LHC.

center-of-mass frame laboratory frame

hν CofM hν 1
e+ e- e+
e-
final
Te+
hν CofM
hν 2

• The annihilation gammas in the lab frame will have a sum of energies:

hν 1 + hν 2 = Te +final + 2m0c 2

• We will need to include the lost charged particle (positron) kinetic energy in the
calculation of µ en .

• The mass annihilation coefficient was derived by Heitler:

σ annihil N A z πr02  γ 2 + 4γ + 1 
ρ
= ⋅ 
A (γ + 1)  γ 2 − 1 
 ln γ + γ 2
− 1 − (
γ +3 

γ − 1 
2
)
Te +final 1
Where: γ = 2
+1 =
m0 c 1 − (v / c ) 2

{See Feynman, Chapter 18, ~0.1% of the time, 3 photons come off, not two, if
positronium had l (momentum) not equal to zero.}

Lecture 7 MP 501 Kissick 2012

 12

σ annihil ( z / A)
• ∝ final for Te +final >> m0 c 2
Note:
ρ Te +

So that annihilation is much more likely at low energies!

• “positronium” is name given to the temporary positron-electron thing that exists

for a short time when both have basically no kinetic energy – then they give off two
identical, opposite gammas of 0.511 gammas in either frame!

hν 1 = 0.511MeV

Te +final = 0 e+/-

hν 2 = 0.511MeV

• Next lecture: some extras like photonuclear reactions and Raleigh scattering.
Then, we start to form a cohesive picture of photon interactions.

Lecture 7 MP 501 Kissick 2012